Blessings
So much of our Christian walk has to do with “…knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” Romans 5:3-5. But how can all the hard things of life be counted as blessings?
Laura Story’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after they were married. After surgeries, vision loss, and memory loss, their lives have changed dramatically—and he still isn’t completely healed. But Laura has redefined what “blessings” really are, and she continues to trust and worship God through it all.
So should we. As believers and as writers, “God loves us way too much to give us lesser things,” and sometimes our prayers for success or a contract or a muse or a bestseller simply aren’t answered in the way we want them to. Sometimes “blessings come through raindrops” or failures or tears. And sometimes “the trials of this life are His mercies in disguise.”
So for all of you who are frustrated or discouraged or lonely or weary, hear the words of this song and know that He hears your prayers and He loves you way too much to give us lesser things. Thanks, Laura, for this important reminder.
“Blessings” by Laura Story
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet He loves us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?
What kinds of trials have you endured that you’ve found to be His mercies in disguise? I’d love to know!
Write Your Story
I’ve got an earworm that just won’t leave. It’s a song that won’t stop repeating in my mind and in my heart, day and night. But I don’t think it’s just because it’s a catchy tune. It is truth. Profound truth, at least to me.
Ever since I became a Christian over three decades ago, I’ve desired for God to write His story on my heart and in my life. Each chapter has held lots of ups and downs, just like any good novel does.
I’ve owned an operated a Christian preschool, teaching little ones to love Jesus and know His word. Then, as a Language Arts teacher, I taught 4-8th graders to love words and love writing, all the while raising two wonderful children.
Later I wrote missions curriculum, had my own newspaper column, became a magazine editor, and then was the editorial director of 12 publications. But it’s never been about the jobs I’ve done; it’s been a journey of letting Him write His story with my life. From the day I turned my heart over to Him, I knew that my life has never really been mine—and His plans have always been good.
And now, with two published non-fiction books, He is writing a new chapter in my story. As a novelist. He is “the source of the rhythm that my heart—and my imagination and my pen—keeps on beating”, and it sure is fun.
As Francesca so aptly sings, I am an empty page. I am an open book. And I want my history to be His legacy. So, when all is said and done, all I can say is “Lord, let me be Your work of art!” Thanks, Francesca!
“Write Your Story”
by Francesca Battistelli
They say
You’re the King of everything
The One who taught the wind to sing
The Source of the rhythm my heart keeps beating
They say
You can give the blind their sight
And You can bring the dead to life
You can be the hope my soul’s been seekin’
(chorus)
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I wanna tell You now that I believe it
I do, that You can make me new, oh
I’m an empty page
I’m an open book
Write Your story on my heart
Come on and make Your mark
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won’t You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won’t You write Your story on my heart
My life
I know it’s never really been mine
So do with it whatever You like
I don’t know what Your plan is
But I know it’s good, yeah
(repeat chorus)
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won’t You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won’t You write Your story on my heart
I want my history
To be Your legacy
Go ahead and show this world
What You’ve done in me
And when the music fades
I want my life to say
I let You write Your story, write Your story
Write Your story, write Your story
(repeat chorus)
Author of my hope
Maker of the stars
Let me be Your work of art
Won’t You write Your story on my heart
Write Your story, write Your story
Come on and write Your story, write Your story
Won’t You write Your story on my heart [x2]
Creating with the Creator
When I coach aspiring Christian writers, one of the first things I encourage them to do is to form a writing life that’s based on biblical values. In the secular culture we live in, that is often not on the top of the list, yet it is a critical part of making your writing life strong and healthy. But how do we do that?
First, put God first in your writing life. Talk about Him as if He’s right there with you, because He is. Make Him an active member of your writing journey. He’s there with you at the dinner table, when you watch TV, when you play, work, talk, or write. He’s there when you go to bed, when you dream, when you create.
Be sure the Bible is your primary source of information about doing life and communicating through your writing. Keep it on your coffee table or on your kitchen counter, and use it often. Grab it and read a Proverb or Psalm at breakfast. Memorize a verse. Talk about it.
Make church one of your primary social activities. If you have children, find a child-friendly church, and let it be an important part of your community. Make friends with other families in the church, and participate in the life of the church. And if there are other writers in your faith community, fellowship together often.
Worship at home, because worship just isn’t for Sunday. Prayer and worship should be a part of each and every day. Pray at meals and bedtime, but also pray in the car and other times. Play worship music and enjoy a time of praise and worship as a normal part of your writing life.
Enjoy creation. Creation and the Creator’s beauty are all around you. And because you are a writer, learn from the Creator how to create! Talk about God’s creation regularly. Acknowledge who made your fingernails or your eyelashes or the bird that flies outside your window. Touch, feel, smell, see—experience creation and worship the Creator. And make it all a part of your writing.
Appreciate life. Instill a deep sanctity of life in your relationships and in your children. Talk about how God made each of us unique and special. Intentionally counter the lies of our culture that says preborn babies and old people are expendable and that life is cheap. Talk about how precious life is; don’t just think it, say it! And write it! When a baby is born or a person dies, talk about what God thinks about these events and what it means to our world.
There is a multitude of ways that you can create a Christian culture in your writing life. What are some ways you do this? I’d love to know!
Writing His Story
I’ve been developing a few writers workshops, and I hope they will inspire many writers to see their lives as a part of a much bigger story that God has for them by sharing Him with others. Yet it seems that these thoughts transcend writers—they are for anyone who wants to touch the lives of others with God’s truth and love.
Why is our desire to connect with others so important to our human experience, whether in person or through story? While there may be a few hermits and others who are anti-social, most of us long for human interaction. We were, indeed, made for relationship.
We are created in His image, the God who longs to be in relationship—with us! Moreover, God wants us to speak into His creation, so He allows us to be a part of His work on this earth.
How cool is that?
We don’t have to have a degree or a license or anything the world sees important. We don’t have to be articulate or even a great writer or some spiritual giant. He freely beacons us to be His partner in speaking His truth to whomever we meet!
He’s also planted a desire in us to share His truth, whether that’s as a writer, a friend, a parent—whatever! And even more than that, He wants to fulfill a very special purpose in our lives and in the lives of others.
When my children were small, it was such a joy to share the love of Jesus with them. Now as a writer, I get to share that same truth through my writing. In my novel, I have included several of God’s truths in the story, and my prayer is that it will touch people’s hearts just as if I were there, sharing those truths face-to-face.
He gave you gifts and talents to use, and He wants you to express them. And He has a unique ministry, audience, or group that only you can reach. He also wants you to deliver a specific message, and feel the joy of sharing life with others.
How can you connect with someone this week and share God’s love with him or her? I’d love to hear what happens. Go for it!
Big Changes
In my novel, my main character is struggling to accept some really big changes in her life. She hates change. So do I.
A single mom is afraid to trust again. A businessman can’t risk applying for that new job for fear of rejection. A spouse can’t forgive and get past an offense. In each situation, the work of change becomes incomplete, the lessons are not learned, and the person is more than likely going to repeat history in some form or fashion.
That’s tragic, and although many of us know how sad this is (me included), we just don’t have to abort the process. We can—and should—find a way to move forward. Sometimes that takes the help of your spouse, a good friend, a professional counselor, or a pastor.
For my character, she and her husband had to struggle through taking their six small children and leaving their homeland to go and live in a foreign country for the rest of their lives. Big changes. Much bigger than most of us have ever faced.
One of the best things we can do is analyze how we naturally tend to deal with change. When we recognize this and then adjust our not-so-healthy patterns of thinking and behavior, we can learn how to deal with change more productively.
Take some time to discover your natural tendencies, and learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. If you do, you’ll be surprised how differently you will react and how much easier you will be able to accept and adjust to the change. I had to figure out that I hid my fear of change in busyness.
Sometimes a change seems accidental or random, and it’s frightening. Often, we simply have expectations that are unrealistic, and we think that everything should work out well, like a Hallmark movie. When it doesn’t, we are surprised or disappointed, angry, or hurt.
If we take some time to assess the unrealistic expectations we’ve learned from Hollywood, the media, or other people, we’ll be able to adjust our thinking accordingly. And when we bring them into a biblically accurate perspective, we’ll realize that they weren’t so random after all.
Other times we just can’t face the loss associated with the change. So we become trapped by fear, sadness, or loss, and we feel embarrassed, ashamed, or confused that we have these negative feelings.
But sooner or later we find ourselves at a point of decision—either we acknowledge it and move through the transition, or we abort it and return to the old thing. It may be as simple as stepping away from a toxic friend or as big as making an transcontinental move like my novel character, but without completing the transition, we’ll likely repeat the lesson we need to learn.
Have you had to repeat something? I sure have! I’d love to hear your story.
Me, a Novelist?
Last spring, I went to an author meet-and-greet, and it changed my life. Angie Breidenbach and Tiffany Amber Stockton were there sharing about their new novels. They were animated, excited, and fun to be around, and when my husband and I left that meeting, I casually said, “I could do that. I could write a novel.” I proceeded to tell him about the basic premise of the story that would become my first novel and lead me in a new career path.
For the next several months, I read a dozen or more books on writing a novel. I attended writers conferences and sat in on novel-writing classes. I researched and researched and researched the setting and history and everything I could about the topics of my story.
And then I wrote and wrote and wrote. It was a blast!
Then, a few weeks ago, I had a crazy conversation with my literary agent. I had a plethora of writing projects working, and I was determined to do it all. My novel. Check. My children’s book series. Check. My nonfiction book. Check?
Why the question mark? As we conversed, it became quite apparent that my excitement, passion, and joy came from writing fiction. Really?
Really.
For more than 35 years, my life verse has been, “The joy of the Lord is your strength,” Nehemiah 8:10b. The Lord faithfully fills me with joy and I find strength to do whatever He puts my hand to do. And it’s been a journey, for sure.
I’ve taught language arts. I’ve had a newspaper column. I’ve written missions curriculum. I’ve been the editor or editorial director of a dozen publications. And I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of articles as well as two published books.
But now I have a new title. I am a novelist! There. I said it.
And it’s exciting beyond words. Everyday I get to dream up stories and journey with God as I write them down. I get to wake up every morning so excited about my day simply because my day has adventures that I don’t even know about.
What new situation will my characters face today? What new characters might I meet? What’s going to happen next?
Who knows? It’s the journey that really matters.
What new journey has God put you on these days? I’d love to know.